Jude the Obscure and Social Darwinism Essay -- Jude Obscure

Jude the Obscure and Social Darwinism  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚   Jude the Obscure is indeed a lesson in cruelty and despair; the inevitable by-products of Social Darwinism. The main characters of the book are controlled by fate's "compelling arm of extraordinary muscular power"(1), weakly resisting the influence of their own sexuality, and of society and nature around them.    Jude's world is one in which only the fittest survive, and he is clearly not equipped to number amongst the fittest. In keeping with the strong Darwinian undercurrents that run through the book, a kind of "natural selection" ensures that Jude's offspring do not survive to procreate either. Their death by murder and suicide is but one of many grisly instances of cruelty in the novel, and there are numerous others (such as the cruel revelation that Latin is not merely "decodable" into English, which shatters Jude's naive pretensions about learning that language; and Jude's rejected application for university entrance, without even having the opportunity to be tested; and Sue's reversal of all her ideals and decisions upon the death of her children, which she sees as some sort of divine warning, and her subsequent return to Phillotson, to name but a few).    Hardy's view of all this cruelty is related with a grim irony that is evident in Jude's death scene. While the festival celebrations of the world outside continue in oblivious gaiety, Jude himself quotes morbid poetry:    "Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived." ("Hurrah!")(2)    This ironic comment on life's cruelty continues at Jude's funeral; Jude's aspirations to university education were never realised, yet as ... ...s; they are at the mercy of the indifferent forces that manipulate their behaviour and their relations with others"(5). This manipulation by fate, and the resulting disparity between human goals and what is actually achieved, mean that the lesson taught in Jude the Obscure is very much one of the cruelty of nature and society.    End Notes: (1) Hardy, Thomas, Jude the Obscure, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1985, p. 41 (I.-vii). (2) Ibid., p. 426 (VI.-xi). (3) Ibid., p. 430 (VI.-xi). (4) Ibid., p. 65 (I.-x). (5) Abrams, M. H., ed., The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 6th ed., Vol. 2., Norton, New York, 1993, p. 1692. Bibliography: Abrams, M. H., ed., The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 6th ed., Vol. 2., Norton, New York, 1993. Hardy, Thomas, Jude the Obscure, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1985.      

Damnation of a Canyon Essay -- Edward Abbey Nature Environment Essays

The Damnation of a Canyon   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Not many people know of the used-to-be 150-mile excursion that the Glen Canyon had to offer. Not many people know how to sail a raft down a river for a week. Not many people know how to interact with nature and the animals that come with it. We seem to come from a world that is dependent on time and consumed in money. Edward Abbey is what you would call an extreme environmentalist. He talks about how it was an environmental disaster to place a dam in which to create Lake Powell, a reservoir formed on the border of Utah and Arizona. He is one of the few that have actually seen the way Glen Canyon was before they changed it into a reservoir. Today, that lake is used by over a million people, and is one of the biggest recreation hot spots in the western United States.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  First of all, Edward Abbey admits to being a certain bias and that he is a, â€Å"butterfly chaser, googley eyed bleeding heart and wild conservative.† So, in other words he is intending this article to be read by environmental activist who will support his opinion and the action that he is trying to take. Edward Abbey worked as a seasonal park ranger for Glen Canyon National Recreation Area back in 1967, so of course he would be against any environmental action taken to change the canyon. He stated that before the damnation of the canyon that there were streams, waterfalls, plunge pools, and plenty of wildlife. Now you can only find that on a small scale and that these thing...

Metaphilosophical Pluralism and Paraconsistency: From Orientative To Mu

Philosophical Methodology Metaphilosophical Pluralism and Paraconsistency: From Orientative To Multi-level Pluralism M.E. Orellana Benado, Andrà ©s Bobenrieth, Carlos Verdugo Universidad de Valparaà ­so ABSTRACT: In a famous passage, Kant claimed that controversy and the lack of agreement in metaphysics — here understood as philosophy as a whole — was a ‘scandal.’ Attempting to motivate his critique of pure reason, a project aimed at both ending the scandal and setting philosophy on the ‘secure path of science,’ Kant endorsed the view that for as long as disagreement reigned sovereign in philosophy, there would be little to be learned from it as a science. The success of philosophy begins when controversy ends and culminates when the discipline itself as it has been known disappears. On the other hand, particularly in the second half of the twentieth century, many have despaired of the very possibility of philosophy constituting the search for truth, that is to say, a cognitive human activity, and constituting thus a source of knowledge. This paper seeks to sketch a research program that is motivated by an intuition that opposes both of these views. Section 0.0 Introduction In the West, human beings have been doing philosophy for roughly 2,500 years. Eastern traditions are, perhaps, even older. What can we learn about philosophy itself through this experience and practice? This is the initial question of metaphilosophy, the body of discourse that collects and articulates our observations and reflections about philosophy as a human activity. Answers to it are essential in order to address the further issue of what contribution, if any, philosophy has made, or can be hoped to make, toward the education of humanity. For, to be sure... ...its set of well-formed formulas. (15) Wang, Hao: Beyond Analytic Philosophy (Cambridge M.A., London: MIT Press, 1988) p. 10. (16) For another view that, together with those of Rescher and Wang, restricts the scope of metaphilosophy to philosophy see Double, Richard: Metaphilosophy and Free Will (Oxford : Oxford University Press 1995). For an example of a discussion that falls within the institutions of philosophy component see Mandt, A.J.: "The inevitability of pluralism: philosophical practice and philosophical excellence" in Cohen, A./ Dascal, M. (eds): The institution of philosophy (La Salle: Open Court, 1991), pp 77-101. (17) The authors acknowledge with gratitude the generous support provided by Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Cientà ­fico y Tecnolà ³gico (Chile) to the research project here outlined as well as the confidence and comments of two anonymous referees.

Amazing Doctor for Marketing

Review questions for the midterm exam Topic 1: Introduction to Marketing 1. Define marketing and discuss how it is more than just â€Å"advertising and selling. † 2. Explain why it is important for all departments of an organization—marketing, accounting, finance, operations management, human resources, and so on—to â€Å"think consumer. † Why is it important that even people who are not in marketing understand it? 3. Marketing has been criticized because it â€Å"makes people buy things they don’t really need. † Refute or support this accusation. . What are the five different marketing management orientations? 5. Explain the production, product, selling, and marketing concepts. 6. Explain the societal marketing concept and provide three examples of companies that are practicing social responsibility in their business activities. 7. List the different steps of the marketing process. 8. What are the two important questions the marketing manage r must answer to design a winning marketing strategy? How does the marketing manager go about answering these two questions? 9.Explain what is meant by segmentation and targeting. 10. Define positioning and explain how it is accomplished. 11. Define the concept of marketing mix. 12. Define each of the four Ps. What insights might a firm gain by considering the four Cs rather than the four Ps? 13. What is the difference between the concept of customer (perceived) value and customer lifetime-value? 14. What is the difference between the concept of brand equity and customer equity? 15. Do loyalty cards foster (i. e. , create) brand loyalty in the marketplace?Explain your answer. Topic 2: The marketing environment and Strategic Planning 1. Define the concept of strategic planning and enumerate the steps that lead managers and the firm through the strategic planning process. 2. Describe the elements of a company’s marketing environment and why marketers play a critical role in tra cking environmental trends and spotting opportunities. 3. Explain what is meant by a market-oriented mission statement and discuss the characteristics of effective mission statements. 4. Explain the product/market matrix. 5.Explain what is meant by a business portfolio analysis. Also, name and thoroughly describe a framework (a tool) that can be used to conduct a business portfolio analysis. Topic 3: Marketing Research 1. Contrast between qualitative research and quantitative research. 2. List the different steps of the research process. 3. Explain the role of secondary data in gaining customer insights. Where do marketers obtain secondary data? 4. Compare open-ended and closed-ended questions. When and for what is each type of question useful in marketing research? 5.What is the difference between a Likert scale and a semantic differential scale? Propose a Likert scale to measure the concept of brand loyalty. 6. A marketing researcher should assess the reliability of his findings a nd the validity of his measurements. What is the difference between reliability and validity? Support your answer by giving examples. 7. A manufacturer would like to measure the effects of the colour of the product package (red vs. blue vs. black) on the sales. Would you advise the manufacturer to use ethnography, projective techniques or experimentation? Explain your choice.

Gold and Diamond Mines

diamonds Modern Africa is known for its huge mineral wealth, which overshadows all its other resources. In 1886 diamonds were discovered. The name De Beer became associated with the diamond find. De Beer was a Boer farmer whose barren farm had suddenly revealed that diamonds were beneath it. He soon sold his land and the diamond rush was on. H. V. Morton described it as the strangest looking trek in South African history. Sailors deserted their ships, soldiers their regiments, merchants their shops, clerks their offices, farmers their land, and the weirdest crowd ever seen in South Africa, good and bad, came over the mountains on horseback, on foot, in Cape carts, ox wagons, stage-coaches anything that would take them to the biggest lucky dip in history. † Kimberley became the world ‘s diamond capital. The place was named after the first earl of Kimberley (1826-1902), who was a British statesman and colonial secretary. The early years at Kimberley were a chaos of individu al miners.The thousands of men who had rushed there from all parts of the world each bought little claims and began to sink shafts. Not God, the â€Å"Rock of Ages’, but the new source of hope became the rock â€Å"diamond. † When the newly discovered 83 carat diamond, which would subsequently be known as the 2 â€Å"Star of Africa,† was held up before the House of Assembly in Cape Town, the colonial secretary declared, â€Å"Gentlemen, this is the rock upon which the future success of South Africa will be built. † But the diamond industry didn ‘t bring peace and happiness.Instead, it established the future pattern of white employment in South Africa as surely as it was done for the blacks. Poor whites would always be protected from the competition of even poorer blacks by formal job discrimination. †¢ In 1859 the first diamond discovery was made in South Africa; however South Africa's diamond heritage stems from a pretty little pebble picked up on the bank of the Orange River in 1867, not far from Hopetown. Erasmus Jacobs, fifteen years old and the son of a poor labourer, took it home as a plaything.The stone was then given to a neighbouring farmer, Schalk van Niekerk, a casual collector of unusual stones. He in turn entrusted it to the trader John O'Reilly, who sent it (in an unsealed envelope! ) to Dr. G. W. Atherstone, a Grahamstown physician and one of the few people in the Cape Colony who knew anything about minerals. The stone was judged a ‘veritable diamond' of 21. 25 carats and valued at ?500. Once cut, the stone weighing 10. 73 carats, was called The Eureka and is now kept at the Library of Parliament in Cape Town. The news triggered a flurry of excitement in the Hopetown area, but eager prospectors found only a few small stones to reward their efforts and drifted away disillusioned. The discovery must have been a hoax, it was suggested: everyone knew diamonds came only from India and Brazil! Almost three years later in March 1869, a Griqua shepherd named Booi, from the farm Zandfontein, picked up a pebble that caught his eye, he first tried to barter the stone for a place to sleep, then for breakfast – everyone turned him down.He ultimately found his way to Schalk van Niekerk. By now Schalk had learned something of precious stones and bought it for virtually all that he possessed: 10 oxen, a horse and 500 sheep. The discovery of this stone set off the diamond rush that transformed South Africa from a struggling agricultural state to a leading industrial nation. Van Niekerk, in turn, sold it to a firm of local jewellers for ? 11200. The 83. 50 carat diamond, to be named ‘The Star of Africa' found its way to England, where it was bought by the Earl of Dudley for the then princely sum of ? 5000. Said Colonel Secretary Sir Richard Southey to his political colleagues, â€Å"Gentleman, this is the rock on which the future success of South Africa will be built. † How r ight he was, without the diamond finds there would be no Kimberley; without Kimberley there would have been no capital to finance the gold mines of the Reef; and without the Reef and its industries there would be no South Africa as we know it. Diggers flocked to the area and staked their claims along the banks of the Orange and then the Vaal River and its tributaries to the north.They lived in tent communities in very harsh conditions; blistering heat during the day followed by icy cold nights. Most made little for their efforts, some made modest fortunes. It was only 30km's from the Vaal River where the first significant finds were made, dry diggings on three farms, one of which was called Vooruitzicht. This farm was bought ten years prior for only ? 50 by two De Beer's brothers who found themselves beleaguered by a swarm of gem-hungry diggers. They hurriedly sold it for ? 6300, a good profit but a drop in the ocean compared to the ? 0 million it would yield over the following year s. Nearby was the discovery of ‘Colesburg Kopje', site of the future Kimberley and the richest treasure house of high quality gem diamonds the world had ever known. The year was 1871 and the ‘New Rush' had begun. The diggings attracted hordes of fortune seekers who came from all walks of life and many countries. By 1872 some 50000 men had encamped in the area. Soon the tents were replaced by corrugated iron and mud-brick houses and rudimentary hotels, bars, brothels, banks, stores, a church, a school, the famed Kimberly Club and the stock exchange.The haphazard nature of the diggings were dangerous and could not be worked at all during the rainy season until an enterprising 19 year old Englishman named Cecil John Rhodes imported a steam operated pump to keep the diggings dry. That inspiration in turn set him on the road to fortune; Rhodes became a well known, high powered businessman and more famously an explorer who funded some of his expeditions through his involvement in the diamond industry. Some time later, Rhodes had decided that consolidation was the key to the success of the diamond fields.Along with his associates he linked hands with a hard-headed diamond buyer called Alfred Beit, and so the monopolisation process began. By 1885, with Rhodes as chairman, the De Beers Mining Company was the major claimholder in the De †¢ †¢ Beers mine (named after the original owners of the farm Zandfontein) and had complete control by 1887. Barney Isaacs better known as Barney Barnato had successfully plied his trade as a ‘kopje-walloper' (under-the-counter middleman between buyer and digger) and a claim-dealing entrepreneur.Like Rhodes, showing remarkable business acumen Barnato became a multi-millionaire, and within five years of arriving in Kimberley he controlled Kimberley Mine. Kimberley Mine has been closed for decades but is now a popular tourist attraction known as ‘The Big Hole'. †¢ By 1889, the future of the diamond wo rld depended on the outcome of a battle for total control between Rhodes' De Beers and Barnato's Kimberley Mines, each backed by powerful overseas interests. Rhodes emerged the victor, a cheque for ? 5 338 650 changed hands and the two mines were brought under the control of a ew company, De Beers Consolidated Mines, the company which today, almost 110 years later still has its registered office in Stockdale Street, Kimberley. With Rhodes as chairman and Barnato and Alfred Beit as life governors De Beers Consolidate Mines won control of the other two major mines in the area and soon after a recently discovered fifth mine. Virtually the entire industry was united and the near monopoly was complete. In 1902 a young German-born diamond buyer arrived at Kimberley as the representative of a London diamond broking firm.Ernest Oppenheimer's family had been involved in South Africa's diamond industry for many years. He decided to settle in South Africa and soon became mayor of Kimberley. In 1917, he moved to Johannesburg and was chiefly instrumental in founding Anglo American, initially a gold mining house but planned from the outset as a power in the diamond world. After the First World War, South Africa was granted a League of Nations mandate over German South West Africa (now Namibia), whose alluvial deposits now began to attract serious attention.A syndicate, led by Anglo American, formed Consolidated Diamond Mines (CDM) in 1919 to exploit the deposits, and amalgamated eleven mines north of the Orange River. Later, when diamond discoveries were made in the Belgian Congo (formerly Zaire, now the Domocratic Republic of Congo) and Angola, De Beers underestimated the significance of these developments, while Anglo American moved in. When huge deposits of alluvial diamonds were located in Namaqualand on South Africa's west coast and, in 1927, near Lichtenburg in the western Transvaal, Oppenheimer's Anglo American again made its claim.Oppenheimer was soon becoming the l eading light in the diamond world, and in spite of opposition from De Beers directors who resented his swift progress was soon elevated to the board. As if to confirm his supremacy, Anglo American geologists working north of the Orange River found new deposits of gemstones even richer than those of Namaqualand. It was only a matter of three years before Oppenheimer was elected chairman of De Beers. Ernest Oppenheimer remained at the helm until his death in 1957, when his son, Harry, took over to run the giant conglomerate with outstanding success for the next quarter of a century.Today it is run by Nicky Oppenheimer, who became chairman of De Beers on the 1st of January 1998. †¢ †¢ gold †¢ The discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand in 1886 was a turning point in South African history. Far more than diamonds, this changed South Africa from an agricultural society to become the largest gold-producer in the world. Gold increased trade between South Africa and the rest of the world. For the main trading nations ie the Europe and the United States, gold was of value because their currencies were backed by gold. This was known as the gold standard.Under the gold standard, these countries had to keep gold in a bank vault to the value of the currencythey issued. For example, if the government of a country wanted to print more money, it had to buy gold to back that money. If that country did not produce gold itself, it had to import gold from another country. Under the gold standard the price of gold was fixed internationally. It was kept low as this benefited nations in Europe and the United States amongst others. These strong nations did not produce gold and had to buy it from elsewhere to back their own currency.In the 1930s many countries abandoned the gold standard. The effect that this had on the South African economy will be examined later on this feature. The Gold Rush On summer's day in 1886, two prospectors discovered gold on a Transvaal farm c alled Langlaagte. Gold was not new to the Transvaal. African had mined gold hundreds of years earlier. More recently, gold had been found in the Eastern Transvaal. In most cases this gold ran out, forcing small mining towns to close down. The gold found at langlaagte was different. The gold discovered there ran for miles and miles underground, ‘an endless treasure of gold'.The Richest Gold-Mining Area in the World. Gold changed the face of the Transvaal. Before 1886 it was a poor, struggling Boer republic but ten years later, it was the richest gold mining area in the world. As news of the gold find spread throughout South Africa and the rest of the world, men made their way to the Transvaal. They walked, rode on horse back, or came by ox-wagon. Ships no longer passed South Africa on their to Australia and New Zealand. Instead, boatloads of men arrived at ports and hurried to catch the next coach to the Transvaal, hoping to find the riches of their dreams. †¢ †¢ â₠¬ ¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢The importance of the gold-mining industry The South African goldfields, 1996 (click on the map to see it larger, and to do the next exercise) A few years after the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand, a string of mining towns marked out the gold-bearing Reef. The map that follows shows that the gold-mining towns formed a curve starting from the East Rand in Heidelberg, extending westwards across to †¢ Krugersdorp and Randfontein. Later more gold mines were discovered further south and east. As a result of this ‘endless treasure of gold', gold mining very quickly became the largest and most important part of the economy. †¢ The world's gold production for 1930 Percentage of the world's gold produced in the Transvaal from 1895 to 1940YEARVALUE (POUNDS)TRANSVAAL (%)18954084300021,01900523120002,819057775600026,819109333200034,31915972180 0039,719206973900049,719258081700050,41935131 68000034,8194017335400034 ,4The nature of gold mining on the Witwatersrand The gold mining on the Witwatersrand had to soon evolve. The gold that was mined was very near to the surface of the ground. As with the diamond mining in Kimberley, the first stage of gold mining took the form of outcrop harvesting.Under the supervision of a prospector, labourers would dig up the ground with picks and shovels in order to reach the gold-bearing ore. Deep-level mining Before long it became necessary to dig a lot deeper to reach the gold, even as much as a kilometre beneath the ground. This became known as deep-level mining. Deep-level mining required new and expensive machines. Machines were used to sink shafts hundreds of metres beneath the ground. By 1906 the Robinson Deep Mine just off Eloff Street in Johannesburg had become, at 800 metres, the deepest producing mine in the world.Because of the heat and the gases underground, ventilationwas necessary for people working at such depths. Also, the deeper the line was, the more water was encountered. Special pumps had to be imported to remove the rater. Low-grade ore The rock from which the gold is extracted is called ore. The gold can be described as being ‘trapped' in ore. A characteristic of the ore in the Witwatersrand is that it is low-grade. This means that a very large amount of ore always has to be dug up and crushed in order to get a small amount of gold.Even today in some mines in Gauteng, as little as 3 grams of gold is obtained from 1 ton of ore. ‘An endless treasure of gold' Although the ore is low-grade, the gold reef stretches for over 400 kilometres from Evander in Mpumalanga to Virginia in the Free State. This area produces most of the gold in the world. Depending on the gold price, people could carry on mining here years to come. The needs of the gold mines follows below. It shows the huge amount of money needed start a gold mine along with a supply of cheap labour. Without these, gold mining in South Africa would not have been profitable. †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ The needs of the gold mines The problem of mining, since the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand, has been to make the poor ore product profitable. Some historians believe that if such poor ore had been found anywhere else in the world, it would have not have been mined at all. The plentiful supply of cheap labour available to the gold mines in South Africa made this viable. Who invested money in the gold mines? The amount of money needed to develop a mine was very large. Most mines were owned initially by investors who brought money in from other countries, hoping to profit from the new mining industry.This money was spent on things like importing special machines for sinking shafts in order to reach the gold-bearing org in the depths of the earth. In addition, the mines needed people who were skilled at deep level mining. These people were mainly immigrants and their l abour was expensive. Skilled workers came from Australia, America, Eastern Europe and especially Britain. In Britain the tin mines in Cornwall were closing down the same time as the gold mines in South Africa were starting up. So many skilled miners from Cornwall came to work on the Witwatersrand.Because of the gold standard, the price of gold was internationally controlled and remained fixed for long periods of time. This meant that an increase in working costs could not be passed on to the buyers by increasing the price of gold. It soon became clear that the only way of mining profitably on the Witwatersrand was to secure a very large supply cheap, unskilled labour. How the mines got their labour In order to be profitable, the mines needed an ongoing supply of cheap labour. The mine owners therefore had to think very carefully about when they would get labour from and how they would make it cheap. We must have labour. The mining industry without labour is as †¦ it would be to imagine that you could get milk without cows. ‘ President of the Chamber of Mines, March 1912 The problem that faced the mine owners was that there was no ready-made supply of workers whom they could recruit to work in the mines. They had to use many different methods to create and keep a supply of cheap labour. Workers in turn resisted these methods in various ways. Few Africans were willing to leave their fields to work underground. Most African farmers were not interested in working in the mines while they still had land.Some, like the Pedi, had been prepared to work as migrants for short periods on the diamond mines in order to get money to buy farming implements, as well as guns to defend themselves. †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Even mine owners had to find a way of turning the migrant system into a cheap one. In the years between 1890 and 1899 the number of African mineworkers rose from 14 000 to 100 000. This s ection shows how mine owners managed torecruitthose 100 000 migrant workers and how the migrant labour system was turned into a cheap one.The governments (both Boer and British) and the mine owners worked together to guarantee the mines an ongoing supply of cheap labour. The conquest of the African kingdoms African independence was largely destroyed by the 1880s. Two examples of this were the conquest of the Pedi and the Zulu kingdoms. The methods used to force Africans to become migrant labourers included taking advantage of internal conflicts within African kingdoms. Going to war against the African kingdoms was another method used by both the Boers and the British. Once the African kingdoms had been defeated, the Boer and British governments taxes and land control easures left people with few options for survival except to seek work in the towns. †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Control over land By the 1880s the Boers had formed governments in the Transvaal and th e Orange Free State. The British ruled over the Cape Colony and Natal. The Boers and the British were slowly extending their control over the land and the people living in these areas. By 1900 most of the land in South Africa had been taken over by white farmers, mining companies, land companies and by the government. In the Cape and Natal in areas like the Transkei and Zululand, land still belonged to African farmers but there was much less of it.There were some Africans involved in commercial farming in the Orange Free State and the Transvaal. But Africans did not farm their own land in these provinces. Most of them farmed land that belonged to white farmers or unused land that belonged to land companies or the government. They were like the tenant farmers in Britain. Imposition of taxes Soon the Boer and the British governments started to impose taxes on their ‘subjects'. They made new laws that demanded taxes be paid in cash and not in cattle. Africans had to pay a hut tax of R1 per year for every hut.It took a man about three months on the mines to earn this and many men went to work on the mines to pay the hut tax. Every man over 18 years old, black or white had to pay a poll tax of R2 a year. Black unskilled workers were earning between 5c and 19c a day on the mines. They had to use most of this money to buy food and clothes for themselves. It therefore took them months of extra work on the mines to pay the poll tax. †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ The third form of tax was the labour tax. In the Cape, the then Prime minister, Rhodes, passed a law called the Glen Grey Act in 1894.Among other things, this law forced all Africans in the Cape to pay R1 to the government every year. However, they did not have to pay this tax if they proved that they worked for wages for at least three months of the year. †¢ Most African men therefore either had to: †¢ earn money to pay the hut tax and the poll tax by selling produce, or worki ng for a short time either on white farms or in towns, or avoid paying the labour tax by working for wages for short periods either on farms or in towns. In these ways thousands of men were forced to become migrant workers.Most chose to go to the mines rather than to do farm labour because they could earn higher wages on the mines. They would go to the mines for specific lengths of time as short as three months or as long as two years while their wives and children stayed at home keeping the farms going. As result more and more men were separated from their families for increasingly long periods. Rhodes claimed that these taxes were meant to encourage independent African farmers to work for wages and to use the cash that they earned to ay for ‘wise and good government'. Early attempts at recruiting From Vusi goes back, Prezanian Comix/E.D. A. Because of the very large supply of labour that the mines needed, the mine owners had to ensure that a sufficient number of men would sp end enough time working on the mines every year. There was competition for labour between the richer mines and the poorer mines. The richer mines were usually able to attract workers by offering higher wages. At the same time, the very existence of the poorer mines depended on reducing working costs by keeping wages as low as possible. The mine owners solved this tension between the richer and the poorer mines by flooding the market with recruited workers.These were workers who were encouraged to come and work on the mines by special agents or ‘touts'. ‘Touts' were paid by recruiting agencies for every worker they recruited. In this way mine owners created a situation where there were more workers than jobs so that workers would be forced to work for lower wages. The mining industry was a major taxpayer to the Transvaal. As a result, the Kruger government co-operated with the mine owners. Although the government was concerned to ensure that the mines did not take African labour away from Boer farmers, it did agree to recruit labour for the mines.This included allowing foreign labour from neighbouring countries to work on the mines. The Kruger government also introduced and policed a pass system. Africans were required to carry passes, a form of document, which allowed them to †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ travel and find jobs only with the approval of the government or an employer. This was designed to control the number of Africans coming to the urban areas. The pass system remained in place in one form or another until 1986. †¢ †¢ The rinderpest Another blow to those farmers who were able to hold onto their independence came with the rinderpest epidemic of 1896-7.This cattle disease reduced many herders to poverty and starvation and many were forced to seek work on white farms or in the mines. Explaining causes Many causes or reasons have been provided to explain why thousands of African farmers went unwillingly to work on the mines every year from the late 1880s onwards. Some of these causes may have had a greater effect on people's lives than others. Behind the scenes of the world of the workers 1897: Lord Miner became governor of the Cape Colony and British High Commissioner in South Africa. He was known for his dislike of Kruger, president of the Transvaal.He also had a strong desire to expand Britain's sphere of influence in South Africa. 1899-1902: The South African War (previously called the Anglo-Boer War) broke out and lasted for three years. An important cause of the war was the struggle for control over the goldfields. The mines were forced to close during the war. Workers returned home. This affected productivity and cost the mine owners and the economy millions of rands. Some say the war paved the way for the Cape Colony, Natal, the Transvaal and the Orange Free State to form one state. 904-1908: South Africa had to be rebuilt or reconstructed after the war. A s part of its reconstruction programme the government under Milner secured cheap indentured labour from China. This enabled the mines to lower wages and ignore the demands of Southern African workers for higher pay and better working conditions. Milner's reconstruction programme was similar in some ways to the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP). Milner's government had to tackle the task of rebuilding the country after the South African War.Africans did not accept the loss of their land or the imposition of taxes, passively. But it was hard for them to fight back because of the strength of the British and the Boers. The development of the mining industry largely destroyed independent farming as a way of life. It changed previous patterns of trade to produce a new economy and a new political system. This new system was controlled by whites. And, particularly during the period from the 1860s to 1910, Britain (and internationally-based companies) had a great influence over the way the country was governed. †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢

Marketing and Department

Project title: MUJI Introduction The head office of MUJI is from Japanese company, RTOHIN KEIKAU CO. , LTD. , and it is a new life style store and advocate simple, nature, texture life philosophy. Also, provide high quality and reasonable price product that related with life, and not waste the material to care about the product’s eco. Flowchart * Human resource department * Distribution department * Quality check department * Marketing department * Finance/ Accounting department * Information technology department * Administration department Japan head office * Engineering department Purchasing department * Productive department * Research & Development department * Creative department * * Human resource department * Distribution department * Quality check department * Marketing department * Finance/ Accounting department * Information technology department * Administration department Japan head office * Engineering department * Purchasing department * Productive departmen t * Research & Development department * Creative department * Front- stage Front- stage Back- stage Back- stage Service delivery system Service delivery system Other contact points Other contact pointsCashier center, Warehouse, Fitting room, Display area (window display), delivery team Cashier center, Warehouse, Fitting room, Display area (window display), delivery team Service operations system Service operations system Cabinet, Burglar alarm, Clothes chest & stand, Refrigerator, Showcase, Display rack, Spot light, Leaflet tray, Telephone, Computer system, Barcode, etc. Cabinet, Burglar alarm, Clothes chest & stand, Refrigerator, Showcase, Display rack, Spot light, Leaflet tray, Telephone, Computer system, Barcode, etc. Other customers Other customers The Customer The Customer Other customersOther customers Advertising Promotion sale MUJI card Miscellaneous e-mail, mamil, phone calls, etc. Websites Exposure product of seasons Advertising Promotion sale MUJI card Miscell aneous e-mail, mamil, phone calls, etc. Websites Exposure product of seasons Customer service associate, Cashier, Supervisor, Storekeeper, Security, Customer service hotline Customer service associate, Cashier, Supervisor, Storekeeper, Security, Customer service hotline Front stage Backstage Customer action Employee action Phone/ internet contact Make recommendation Arrived store Pay Delivery Recorded & follow upCustomer service CS associate, Security Cashier Enter data Register data Distribution Sent out Front stage Backstage Customer action Employee action Phone/ internet contact Make recommendation Arrived store Pay Delivery Recorded & follow up Customer service CS associate, Security Cashier Enter data Register data Distribution Sent out Most of the customer are having connect with company is they come to the store. But MUJI also provide a delivery ordering service to customers. When the total price over $3001 that the delivery charge will be free but if below $3000, it will take $120 for the charge.And have other three types of charge, like bridge/tunnel toll, labor charge, assembly charge, that will charge when different situation happened. And must remember that does the large packing furniture can be moved to the designated location or not so need to careful of this. Also, MUJI have cooperation with Hang Seng Bank that created a MUJI card that to attract consumers. Using MUJI card at MUJI can earn $5 MUJI dollars for every spending of $100 and can use the MUJI dollars when you use the MUJI card to buy at MUJI next time to enjoy double benefits.The responsibility range of each department Back stage department Human resource Staff is very importance of a company because if you don’t have any staff or they didn’t like the company, will make company’s quality down and nothing can do without staff. So that the most importance thing of human resource department has to do is how company keeps outstanding staff in company and recru it some outstanding people outside to join the company. And the mainly job of the department are including, compensation & benefits, staffing & selection, and training & development.Distribution Distribution department need to help picking and packing goods, delivery goods, physical storage planning, physical storage planning, may facilitate the movement of materials. And the department is being an important charter in the company because the company sales are directly related to the speed of delivery goods. Quality check When product finishes production and delivery to Hong Kong, will have a check in lab for testing its different kind of quality, like safety, health, practicability, etc.And they not only do the checking in lab, they also need to go to stores to have a random check to make sure the products have the high quality provide to customers. Marketing When the product start the production process, marketing department also need to start thinking about the compan y marketing strategy to defined the target market of the product, then find out the most suitable way for sell. Also, the marketing strategy must including promotion plan, like new product exhibition, advertising, sale, distribute leaflets to potential consumer, etc. AdministrationAdministration department is a department that sundry duties in a company. They need to arrange the appliances, like stationery, and buy the appliances, like water dispenser, keep in good repair of office, for example, clean the windows or rug, contact with the security of building, response company pantry and the document sending. Finance/ Accounting The mainly job of the department would be properly to help company manage the affair of finance, handle and calculate each department of company, defined the future development plan from the account, make sure the money enough to un the business and have great management system to manage and protect company’s asset. Information Technology Help to desig n and create company website, then need to manage the website, provide technology of computer science that to maintain or upgrade office computers or company system. Back-stage department (Japan head office) Purchasing Purchasing department is searching manufactory, material suppler, then inquire about price, negotiated price, makes contract with suppler, tracking warehousing, manage the inventory, processing the defective products, etc.They have to help the company to find out the cheapest price and have good quality company to be the suppler because the material cost may increase when contract higher price with supplier then the selling price will also follow to increase so it is very important to the production. Productive The job of the deportment is to manage, control the time to finish the product on time, control the cost of the production. They will subscribe guide line about the standard of product to let manufactory to follow, include following: quality, specifications, qu antity, deadline, method of using science.Creative Creative department’s staffs must have many creative ideas to help company design a new, useful and special product that can have good selling number. But their design still need keep company style and control the quality. Research & Development This department’s mainly job is collect data for research, basic research and applied research, then by the result to think about how to develop the products and fits to market. Front-stage department Sales The mainly job of sales department is make marketing department creates marketing strategy plan to operate.Also, the department staffs are selling products at retail store and answer customers inquire. They need to know all detail of the product that which in their response area. And they must have good communication and selling skills. Public relationship A good business image is rely on good public relationship department because it is a department that response to pro vide positive image to public, like send out declare when having any bad in that country or update the positive news to consumers, etc. Customer ServiceThe mainly work of the department is handle daily running of customer service, like receive customer order and follow up the order, and provide good service to customer, answer customer’s inquire or complaint. Security It’s a most important deportment of a company because it is related to safety problem. Their job is make sure all the staff and company’s safety, have temporary problem solving sills, for example, something have been stolen or company on fire, so they response to follow the timetable to make one’s rounds of inspection and general security’s job.Conclusion MUJI is one of the company that provide high quality service, and they are not only focus this way, they also focus on resource of Earth, environment, recycle problems and it’s store image of ‘sample style’ can at tract many different age group people to visit. But one of thing that MUJI need to improve is their Hong Kong MUJI website is too simple that not enough information to show consumers.

Porter’s Five Force Model of Toyota

MIS Porter’s Five Forces Model Of Toyota Porter’s five forces model is a framework for the industry analysis and development of business strategy. Three of Porter’s five forces refers to rivalry from external/outside sources such as micro environment, macro environment and rest are internal threats. It draws ahead Industrial Organization economics to develop five forces that conclude the competitive intensity and consequently attractiveness of a market place or industry. Attractiveness in this framework refers to the generally overall industry profitability. An â€Å"unattractiveness† in industry is one in which the mixture of these five forces proceed to constrain behind overall profitability. An extremely unattractive industry would be one moving toward â€Å"pure competition†, in which existing profits for all companies are moving down to zero. 1. Bargaining power of suppliers The bargaining power of suppliers is low. There are various types of suppliers in the vehicles industry, including the cooling system, electrical system, braking system and fuel supply system distributed across the globe. However, most vehicle manufactures own many interchangeable suppliers, and also have the ability to produce the components by their own in the short time. Thus, the suppliers do not own the power to change the price. 2. Bargaining power of buyers The Bargaining power of buyers is high. Today, buyers have a lot of information channel, such as the internet, where can easily find the proper vehicle. And, the preferences of the private consumers are important to the vehicle corporations. If automobile Company increases one type, they can also choose other type or the cheaper one. And the vehicle’s buyers can easily find the substitutes, such as walking, and bus. 3. Threat of new entrants The entrants can not enter to the automotive industry easily, as automobiles are special products that require a large amount of money on the design, electronic functions, and safety issues. And another important issue is the brand loyalty in the car market. Vehicle firms always benefit the brand value, and decrease the consumer sensitivity about the price. For example, General Motors provided $1000 to the Saab owners who planed to buy the 2008 model. 4. Rivalry among competitors The competition in the auto industry is strong. The top eight auto companies have occupy large part of global revenues, and these automobile manufacturers strengthened the globalization and consolidation across the worldwide range. The competition is not only between the corporations, but between the governments. Governments established protection laws to protect the products of each own production. For example, U. S. government increased the additional tariffs on Chinese tires in 2009. And the Toyota vehicles were recalled because the U. S. government investigated into the accelerator pedal problems. 5. Threat of substitutes The threat of the substitutes is high. There are a lot of substitutes in the automobile industry. When the price of the vehicles rises, the substitutes will emerge, there are many types of equipment that can take the place of vehicles, such bus, subway, bicycle and even walking.